Arson-detecting dog is big hit

CHESHIRE  A dog that the state police call on when things get hot received a warm welcome at the Cheshire Senior Center.

Michael Gannon

Published 12:00 am, Saturday, September 13, 2003

Katie, an energetic Labrador retriever, works with Detective Roger Baxter, a trooper in the state fire marshals office. The two showed off Katies talent for detecting accelerants on Wednesday as part of an annual fire-prevention program sponsored by the Cheshire Home Safety Awareness Team.

Cheshire Fire Marshal Jeff Boland said every fire investigation requires finding a cause. He said the state offers its resources to local departments any time a fire might be too large or too suspicious to handle alone.

"When we have a certain profile, certain earmarks that indicate the cause could have a human degree about it and could require (criminal) prosecution, at that point we call on Roger and Katie and their colleagues," Boland said.

Baxter has worked with the fire marshals office for 13 of his nearly 20 years on the job.

Katie, 4, has been trained to detect trace amounts of more than 20 substances that are used to make fires burn hotter and more completely. Connecticut was the first state to experiment in training dogs to detect accelerants in response to a rash of fires in New Haven in the 1980s, Baxter said.

"A dog with a long snout has the ability to smell or scent 40 to 60 times greater than a human," Baxter said. "If its available to the public, and can be poured out to help start a fire, she can detect less than one-tenth of a drop."

Baxter said dogs began helping with police work more than 100 years ago after their talents were demonstrated by the military.

While pet dogs are fed once or twice a day, Katie receives her food a little at a time, having been trained to associate detecting the smell of accelerants with getting a handful of food.

Mary Gryniuk of Cheshire was one of Katies two dozen newfound friends.

"This was wonderful," she said. "The trooper and the dog were excellent. I had no idea the dog could be so good at that."

Baxter opened a tackle box filled with 10 bottles of material Katie can detect. He applied drops in four different areas at four different heights from the floor before Boland brought Katie back into the room and took her off the leash.

"Normally she will be on her lead or leash right with me," Baxter said. "Ill go through a scene beforehand and clean up anything like poisons, chemicals, loose nails or broken bottles."

Upon detecting the drops, Katie pointed with her nose, sat upright, and was rewarded with a handful of food.

"We test samples from everything she stops at," he said. "Ninety-six percent of the time (the laboratory) finds traces of chemicals. The other 4 percent is usually human error. If the dog could take the sample, (the accuracy) would be higher."